Skadi, the goddess of winter from Norse mythology, a deity who loves hunting and skiing.
According to the Poetic Edda's 'Grímnismál', she is the daughter of "the terrible giant Thiazi," and lived with her father in an ancient mansion in Þrymheimr, the Land of Noise.
She inherited her father's ferocity. When he was killed, she once donned a full suit of armor and marched straight into Asgard to confront Odin directly.
To put it mildly, if you were to compare this "Snowshoe Goddess" to deities like Freya or Frigg, her style is a bit... ferocious.
Skadi was practically a goddess of war masquerading under the title of a winter god.
---o---
Watching the sudden blizzard rise and the goddess of winter standing within it, Ana, who was now surrounded by solid icicles, had a grim expression on her lovely little face.
This being was powerful, visibly so.
However, after undergoing the Director's experiment, she was no longer the person she used to be.
Her Herrscher instincts told Ana that she could at least try to defeat the winter goddess.
As she thought this, Honkai energy surged around her, giving rise to impossibly sturdy ice lances that looked like a thousand sharp swords.
Then—
A cold wave, in no way inferior to that of the winter goddess, erupted from her.
It was as if the entire world had been flash-frozen; everything around them was coated in a thick layer of frost.
If one were to consider the Will of Honkai as the creator god of its pantheon, and the Herrscher of the End as the god-king, then the Herrscher of Ice was undoubtedly a being on the level of a main god.
Although, in this particular pantheon...
The main gods seemed to be a bit... illiterately powerful, capable of using the ultimate authority that symbolized physics like a low-level evocation spell.
But—
That didn't stop her from releasing her aura, provoking the other winter god who was gradually being consumed by madness.
Like a volley of ten thousand arrows, a dense barrage of icicles, each as hard as a diamond and carrying a temperature low enough to freeze the soul, shot toward the Norse winter god.
Consumed by madness, Skadi felt the power of the Herrscher of Ice. The cold wave under her command surged in response, forming a shield.
The arrows forged from Honkai energy stagnated within that frigid domain before being crushed into dust under the pressure of immense divine power.
They were not enough to directly harm the winter goddess.
However, Ana had achieved her goal.
The winter goddess, who was clearly far more deeply corroded by madness than Lugh had been, shifted her gaze to follow Ana's movements.
Ana was now marked as an enemy by the Heretical Skadi.
---o---
"Miss Annie, you should fall back for now."
The Herrscher of Ice, clearly intending to lure the Heretical Skadi away, spoke to the guide that Lord Pluto had recommended.
Annie froze.
As Lord Pluto, the secret guardian of her country, she had spoken those very words countless times while in her John Smith persona.
Now, to hear those same words directed at her...
To be honest, the feeling was incredibly complicated.
However, she wasn't about to argue at a time like this.
"No problem."
Annie, who was Lord Pluto herself, nodded gravely and darted toward an unknown alley.
She had to quickly find a place to hide, activate her Authority, and return as Lord Pluto to eliminate this winter goddess who had appeared out of nowhere.
---o---
So, this is what it feels like to protect others?
Soaring into the sky, the girl began to guide the Heretical Skadi toward the outskirts of the city. Although she had undergone a great deal of training, this was her first time on a real battlefield.
This feeling... is surprisingly nice.
A small smile graced the lips of the girl, who was shaping up to be a very competent Valkyrie.
Next, it was time to witness her own growth.
Ana, who had yet to fully utilize her power as the Herrscher of Ice, stretched out her hand.
This was a trial.
A trial that, once overcome, would mark her as an excellent Valkyrie.
If I can vanquish such a powerful enemy by myself, the Director will surely be very happy, right?
The girl, who had always believed that Li Zihan's Artificial Herrscher Project was designed to create super-class combatants, imagined her lover's expression, and the smile on her lips became all the more resolute.
She absolutely could not fail to live up to the Director's expectations!
With this thought, the girl drew upon the Honkai energy within her body, shaping her murderous intent against the winter goddess.
And then—
She froze.
The reason was simple: the color of the sky had changed.
The clouds, which had grown dark because of the winter god, had turned crimson.
A massive red greatsword emerged from the void without any warning.
Then—
An eerie red light surged through the world, dyeing half the sky the color of blood.
The temperature of the entire world began to rise, as if a hundred volcanoes had awakened simultaneously, releasing the heat they had accumulated for centuries.
And it just smashed down.
It was as if the sun itself had fallen from the heavens.
An attack of this magnitude hurtled directly toward the Heretical Skadi.
Pseudo-Heavenly Fire: Judgement Mode + Mana Burst (Flame) + Flames of the Sun.
Before Ana's slightly bewildered eyes, the anomalous youth—who was a Herrscher, a demigod, and a God-Slayer all at once—had unhesitatingly unleashed his ultimate move right at the start of the battle.
---o---
The Heretical Skadi's expression changed drastically. Even though her sanity was eroded by madness, affecting her ability to think, she wasn't a fool.
A colossal amount of magical energy erupted from her body.
The goddess of ice, clearly sensing the aura of sun and flame, instinctively summoned a cold wave to protect herself.
But—
It was useless.
A God-Slayer was a species only a single tier weaker than a Heretical God, possessing offensive power on par with a true deity.
And the God-Slayer she was fighting had the buffs of a three-core Herrscher and a demigod stacked on top of that!
The raging flames effortlessly tore through the defensive net of the cold wave and slammed viciously into the winter goddess.
Endless fire engulfed the winter goddess as she plummeted.
The sheer scale of it was reminiscent of the mythological scene where God sent down heavenly fire to end the city of Sodom.
If she hit the ground, it would undoubtedly cause massive casualties.
Anyone with eyes could see that.
But—
As if prepared in advance, a spatial gate leading directly to the Pacific Ocean abruptly opened right in the winter goddess's path of descent.
The heavily wounded goddess of winter plunged straight into the Pacific.
---o---
Before the bewildered eyes of Miss Ana, who had been preparing to undergo her trial and prove herself, the youth casually took out a weapon that looked like a trident and handed it to his lover.
It was Brionac, the divine spear that symbolized the authority of the sun god Lugh, an absolute counter to chthonic deities and winter gods.
Using it to finish off the half-dead winter goddess would clearly not be a difficult task.
The condition for becoming a God-Slayer was actually quite simple.
Take down a Heretical God.
A direct kill or a final blow—either would suffice.
"The battle is over, Ana. Go get the last hit."
Author's Note:
ps: The reason I wrote Skadi as so weak is definitely not because I've played too much Arknights and have gotten into the habit of bullying Skadi.